


Wake Me up When Finals End

by scholarlyspidey



Series: Writing Challenges [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 19:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16750231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scholarlyspidey/pseuds/scholarlyspidey
Summary: Away at his first year of MIT, Peter is starting to feel overwhelmed and like he doesn’t belong.





	Wake Me up When Finals End

Using what little energy he had left from the day, Peter Parker all but threw his backpack onto his desk chair before collapsing face down onto the bed in his dark dorm room.

Only a little under two months in and MIT was already kicking his ass.

On this day last year, November 1st, he thought life was about as stressful as it could ever get. Being a senior at Midtown Tech meant endless homework and projects were due, his early application to MIT needed polishing, and, of course, the whole being Spider-Man thing took up most of the nights he had available.

Except now, he’d give anything to be back there.

It was _MIT_ , and Peter should’ve known full well what he was getting himself into. But maybe it was all the pamphlets, all the admissions emails, and all the comfort Mr. Stark gave him about how good of a school it was.

All of it built up to the false sense of security that he was somehow _made_ for this school, that he could _thrive_ there, that he wasn’t just some scrappy kid from Queens that probably only got in thanks to a big check signed _Tony Stark_.

After hearing about the countless acts of philanthropy, internationally-recognized tournament wins, and other jaw-dropping feats accomplished by his peers, Peter soon began to doubt that he really did anything to deserve being there.

It was nearing finals season, and it wouldn’t be too late to quit while he was ahead. To stop before he went down an inescapable hole.

Because that was what college felt like to him right now

A hole, a grave he’d dug for himself, that was starting to feel too deep to get out of.

But he could never tell Aunt May about it. He could only imagine her disappointment if he ruined his one shot, he could picture moving back home with her and how embarrassed he would be from being a near MIT graduate to just some deadbeat living in his aunt’s apartment.

She’d been so proud when he got the letter saying he’d been admitted. As Peter opened the paper, her head rested on his shoulder, eager for the results. She’d screamed shortly before reading aloud the opening line,

_Dear Peter,_

_On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2022!_

He was in shock as he read the lines over and over again, not really processing the whole thing. She then embraced him in a hug until he could barely breathe. His chest was starting to feel that tight again, like she was there, hugging him until he couldn’t breathe.

As he inhaled deeply into his pillow, Peter smelled the faint scent of cinnamon. The fragrance probably leftover from the pumpkin spice donuts he’d picked up from the dining hall the other day. He felt the crumbs burrow their way into his skin.

The longer he breathed in his fall-scented sheets, the more his thoughts tossed and turned.

_When’s the last time I changed these sheets?_

_When’s the last time I even showered?_ He followed up.

The onslaught of problem sets, clubs, following up with Mr. Stark weekly, and the incessant news reports on theories as to where Spider-Man was all slowly piled up. It amounted to him having to choose between having a good enough GPA or the comfort of showers and sleep. As told by his dark eyes and greasy hair, school took the reins.

Peter tilted his head to the side, opening his eyes to take in the room.

He was thankful no one else had to live with him in this pigsty. Notes from quantum flooded his desk, dirty clothes made a sea of fabric across the floor, the Halloween decorations were still up, likely to not come down ‘til New Years, and what little personal items he had laid on the empty bed across his.

A faint _buzz_ drew Peter out of his thoughts. Reaching into his back pocket, his left hand snatched his phone and brought the screen to his line of sight.

**NEW MESSAGE**

**Ned**

_Hey man! (this is kinda late, but hope you had a good halloween!)  maybe you’ll get this?? we gotta hang soon, bye!_

His fingers hovered over the **REPLY** button. He felt bad for not speaking to Ned in so long, but he’d been busy with all things MIT. Weren’t people supposed to drift apart after high school, or was he just making excuses for himself?

Either way, the cloud that's been following him all day probably wouldn’t let up any time soon. So he sent a small, _totally!_ and put his phone facedown on his desk. All he wanted was five minutes to himself, to sleep, to shower, to whatever.

-

At the shrill ring of his phone, Peter straightened up, awake and alert. Squinting out into the pitch-black room, he grabbed blindly to turn his desk lamp. Noticing the faint glow making its way from beneath where his phone met the surface of the desk, Peter groaned and grabbed his phone. Peaking beneath his curls, he noticed the name of **STARK** imprinted across the screen.

Putting the phone against his face, he yawned out, “Hello?”

"It's nearly nine, did you sleep through the messages and calls I sent you?" Tony’s voice sounded like a mix of anger and panic.

While this would be the perfect time to be embarrassed, Peter instead played tug-of-war with his sheets to try and rush to the nearest object that displayed the time. Grabbing his childhood Captain America clock, the arms lined up to _8:56_.

Before he had a chance to drop the alarm, a cough from the other end of the line brought him back into the conversation, “Ah, uh, no.” He sighed, “Sorry,” shrugging a hand through his mess of locks, he replied, “lost track of time I guess.”

He closed his eyes as tight as possible, as if ready for some kind of reprimand, only to be met with a long exhale.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Tony demanded softly.

As tempted as he was to lie, Tony was always able to see right through him.

“It’s just…”

“Just what, Peter?”

“A lot,” he blurted out, “it’s just a lot to deal with.”

“It’s MIT, you’re not in high school anymore. I hope you weren’t expecting to coast from A+ to A+, right?” Tony scoffed.

“You don’t get i-”

“Which part?” Tony cut in, “The going to MIT part or the being a superhero part?”

Peter paused, “At least you get to save people.”

He waited for another quip, but only heard static and Tony’s faint breathing.

“Going to college doesn’t mean you can’t help people.”

And God did Peter want to believe that. “It’s not like there’s skyscrapers here or anything, you know? I can’t exactly swing in and save the day anymore.”

“Massachusets has a population worth saving too. You don’t have to be Spider-Man just to save people, I’m pretty sure the Friendly Neighborhood Peter Parker can still do some good.”

“But I just left them all Mr. Stark. How could I do that?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong for wanting to be normal and go to college.”

For the first time in their talk, Peter stopped himself mid-pace, “I’m not normal. I’m an Avenger.”

“You’re a kid who seems overwhelmed, Peter.”

He found his way back to his bed, “I don’t belong here,” he confessed, “I don’t deserve to be here.”

Tony snorted, “So then, I guess you got into one of the best high schools in the country because you didn’t belong there either?”

“What?”

“Your high school, it’s one of the hardest in the country to get into, and you were able to do it.”

“But that was then-”

“And this is now,” Tony stated. “ _You_ helped me redesign each one of your suit enhancements, _you_ were the one winning science fairs and decathlons before I ever knew your name, and _you_ got into MIT because of everything _you_ did, Peter.”

He added, “But if you still really feel that way, you can always come back to New York, I’m sure Columbia would take you in a heartbeat.”

“Or you can just come back, not school, you can be Spider-Man, or Peter Parker, or whoever you want.” Tony amended to the silence.

Peter didn’t know where to begin. The reality of everything that’s been happened in his life for the past few months was all crashing together in one phone call. “I don’t know. I feel bad enough that you’ve already spent so much on my tuition, I couldn’t just stop right now. I can’t keep wasting your money like this, Mr. Stark.”

“Forget the money, it’s nothing I can’t earn back.”

The plastic spiders that hung from the ceiling stared back at Peter, spinning round and round, hypnotizing him as he tried to think of what to say. “I honestly don’t know what to do.”

“You don’t have to let me know right now,” Tony consoled, “how about you sleep on it, and tell me when you’re ready?”

“Okay,” he nodded to himself, “I can do that.”

“Great… and Peter?”

“Yeah?”

“You know if anything gets _really_ stressful or hard, you can talk to me, or your RA, or any of your friends, okay?” He took a deep breath, “I don’t want to have to call that many times again and not get an answer.”

Eyes widening, Peter answered immediately, “I’ll always pick up your call.”

“Even in class?” He teased.

“Depends on who’s lecturing.” Hearing a laugh ring out, Peter smile to himself for the first time in a long time. His gaze cut to the clock again, _9:32_ , “Well I guess I should go.”

“Yeah, I probably kept you too long anyway, talk next week?”

He confirmed, “Talk next week.” At hearing the line cut out, Peter looked around his dorm. While he wasn’t magically cured with some sense of productivity, he peered down at the phone in his hand.

Opening his messages, he typed out, _ned, i’m actually free rn and saturday if you wanna still do smth?_

And he felt confident as he pushed the **SEND** button.

He felt confident that he could get his life back on track.

Confident that he could still make all his old friendships work.

For the first time in his college career, Peter Parker finally felt that he belonged.

**Author's Note:**

> My first Marvel fic ever! Picked up the Uni AU prompt from valar–m0rghulis ‘s writing challenge on Tumblr and honestly loved learning to write from it and to edit it entirely.


End file.
